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In other Midtown news, the worst hotel in Cleveland has been purchased:

Old Cleveland hotel gets new owner

STAN BULLARD

June 24, 2019 03:10 PM

A New York City-based hotel investor is the new owner, through 3614 Euclid Holding LLC, of the 181-room University Hotel & Suites in MidTown Clevelandas a result of a long-lingering foreclosure proceeding.

The affiliate of the Crimson Rock Capital hotel investment company obtained the deed to the 1964-vintage hotel on Friday, June 14, according to Cuyahoga County land records.

Crimson secured the property through a receivership sale authorized by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas with a credit-bid for $3 million because it had acquired for an undisclosed amount the distressed mortgage on the property from a lender, Grand Pacific Holdings Corp. of Monterey, Calif. A credit-bid recognizes the investment that the lender already has made in the property with a mortgage.

"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege." -- Tommy Douglas, Scottish-born Canadian Baptist minister and the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Foundation board of directors today announced it has unanimously authorized the creation of a new home in the MidTown neighborhood for the world’s first community foundation. The proposed relocation for the Cleveland Foundation, which is envisioned to include a significant amount of community space that is open and accessible to the public, marks the launch of a new civic district in MidTown. This vision is designed to connect the center of Cleveland with both Public Square in Downtown and Wade Oval in University Circle, creating one continuous stretch of activity and community engagement.

“This move empowers the Cleveland Foundation to stay proximate to the residents and neighborhoods in which we are working to serve in partnership with our donors, nonprofit organizations and the community,” said Ronn Richard, President and CEO, Cleveland Foundation. “Working with these partners, our goal with this new district is to create new green space, bring new enterprises to the neighborhood, revitalize existing businesses and establish a sense of place that builds on the history of surrounding neighborhoods and provides opportunities for people to interact. And with equitable place-making as the driving force behind this move, we believe this new civic space in the heart of MidTown will unite Cleveland into one contiguous city that benefits everyone.”

For nearly 40 years, the Cleveland Foundation has called Playhouse Square home. During that time, the foundation partnered with the community to support an important vision to redevelop the entire theater district and Downtown Cleveland. Now serving as the country’s largest performing arts center outside of New York City, Playhouse Square has utilized the arts to engage individuals and attract over one million guests per year to more than 1,000 annual events.

“I am immensely proud of the leadership demonstrated by my colleagues on the board to unanimously commit to a bold vision for the Cleveland Foundation’s next century,” said Sally Gries, Chairperson, Cleveland Foundation Board of Directors. “By strategically thinking beyond just a stand-alone headquarters building, we believe the scope of this project will catalyze long-term, multi-generational social and economic development as part of the foundation’s strategy to enhance underserved neighborhoods across Cleveland. The foundation will leverage its physical presence to convene the community and help it focus on our shared future by creating a welcoming place where people come together to address Cleveland’s greatest challenges and embrace our greatest opportunities.”

Place-based community development has been central to the foundation’s mission since its inception. In just the past 30 years alone, the Cleveland Foundation has invested more than $75 million to help Cleveland residents rebuild, revitalize and reimagine their neighborhoods. The core tenets of this strategy – enhancing Cleveland’s livability by supporting neighborhood-based projects, convening partnerships to meet neighborhood challenges with neighborhood solutions, and creating opportunities for equitable wealth creation and employment – are exemplified through the opportunity to relocate the foundation to MidTown.

“Congratulations to the Cleveland Foundation on its decision to relocate its headquarters to MidTown,” said Frank G. Jackson, Mayor of Cleveland. “This move is a demonstration of the foundation’s commitment to investing in neighborhoods.”

“Locating the Cleveland Foundation headquarters in Ward 7 will have a dramatic positive impact in the community, transforming the lives of people who deserve and need it so desperately,” said Basheer Jones, Ward 7 Councilman, Cleveland City Council. “This community welcomes the foundation with open arms, and this move presents a perfect opportunity to show the world how foundations and communities are supposed to work together.”

The new civic district will be anchored by Dunham Tavern Museum, whose stated vision is “to provide an urban green space in MidTown Cleveland, and to return the Tavern to its roots by serving as a place for urban history, education, nature and community.” By authorizing the foundation to co-locate its headquarters on an adjacent parcel of land, Dunham Tavern Museum will gain the necessary assets to make improvements to the property, endow its ongoing maintenance, expand educational offerings and offer new programming that achieves this vision. The foundation plans to finalize the purchase and move forward with its headquarters project as soon as outstanding contingencies are promptly resolved.

“The partnership with the Cleveland Foundation is a game-changing opportunity that accelerates us from where we are today as an organization to where we could and need to be for our community,” said Tim Collins, Board President, Dunham Tavern Museum. “To have the foundation as a neighbor is a welcome change for us and the surrounding neighborhoods. We would be hard-pressed to catapult forward to achieve our long-term organizational vision without the Cleveland Foundation, and our board of directors is strongly in support of the inspired creation and launch of this exciting new sense of place and arrival in MidTown.”

MidTown Cleveland, the neighborhood connecting Cleveland’s vibrant Downtown to the cultural hub of University Circle, has seen tremendous development and change over the last decade. Between 2008 and 2019, more than $335 million of real estate investment in 30 projects has resulted in 750,000 square feet of new or renovated commercial space. Today, MidTown is home to 75 new health- and high tech companies and more than 60 nonprofit organizations, part of a diverse community of businesses, institutions, nonprofits and residents who have chosen to locate in the neighborhood. Recent projects in the area include the Dealer Tire headquarters, Dave’s Market & Eatery, University Hospitals Rainbow Center for Women & Children and the recently opened Tru by Hilton hotel.

Residential development is also picking up, with the One MidTown townhomes now open and construction beginning on The MidTown project, an 80-unit conversion of a long vacant office building. There are also plans for a mixed-income redevelopment at the former Warner & Swasey Co. complex and a 64-unit market rate apartment building across from Dealer Tire. MidTown is also beginning to emerge as an entertainment destination, with the Children’s Museum of Cleveland, Agora Theater & Ballroom and the Masonic Cleveland venue among the attractions in the neighborhood.

“The Cleveland Foundation moving to MidTown will be incredibly transformative, not just for our neighborhood, but for the city,” said Jeff Epstein, Executive Director, MidTown Cleveland, Inc. “This signals a sense of investment, not just in MidTown, but in all of the surrounding neighborhoods. The notion of the foundation unlocking the true potential of the Dunham Tavern Museum green space and surrounding civic district for the community is immense and represents the first step into turning the area from a ‘pass-through’ into a ‘place.’”

“Our MidTown board is thrilled that the Cleveland Foundation is moving to the neighborhood,” said Stephanie McHenry, Chairperson, MidTown Cleveland, Inc. Board of Directors. “We’ve gained a lot of momentum in the last five years with a number of major investments and see the foundation’s decision as a signal of even more confidence in what we’re doing. It’s also consistent with our idea of reaching out to more than just the business community, and we believe the redevelopment of East 66th Street is a great way to open our arms to the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods.”

The development of the new civic district in MidTown will also catalyze the community’s shared vision for enhancing the East 66th Street corridor, from Euclid Avenue to the League Park District. In 2012, The City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), in partnership with City Architecture, developed a streetscape improvement plan. This new vision of a sense of place and arrival from the Cleveland Foundation leverages this momentum and starts to realize this inclusive development opportunity.

“The foundation’s vision meshes with the League Park Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative plan, which will improve East 66th Street from Euclid Avenue up to League Park in Hough,” said 2019 NOACA Board President Valarie J. McCall. “The north-south connection provided by East 66th Street creates links between the League Park District, the Hough community and this new civic district.”

The foundation has launched a design and planning phase to envision a headquarters that harmonizes with the community –– and embodies the place-based mission that launched a global philanthropic movement more than a century ago. This initial conceptual phase was designed by S9 Architecture. Pascale Sablan (senior associate) is leading the team’s effort, with Navid Maqami (co-founding principal of S9 Architecture) and Younsung Chung (associate principal). Sablan was the recipient of The American Institute of Architects’ 2018 Young Architects Award and was the National Organization of Minority Architects member of the year in 2015.

Many in the community have begun to express support for the vision of a new civic district in MidTown and the partnership with the Cleveland Foundation:

John Anoliefo, Executive Director, Famicos Foundation

“This is the right time and the right moment for the Cleveland Foundation. In order to bring equity into community development, someone has to be the pioneer. By the foundation making this announcement, it is putting its money where its mouth is. The Cleveland Foundation is for the neighborhoods – it always has been and always will be.”

“The Cleveland Foundation’s decision for its future headquarters will have a profound effect on the entire city of Cleveland. It is going to expedite development that we’ve been working on for years and makes an important statement about the foundation’s deep-rooted belief in strong neighborhoods. The vision beyond just a single building will lead to East 66th becoming one of the first streets to develop north and south and will ignite additional development across several neighborhoods.”

“It’s been impressive to see the amount of development that has continued in the neighborhood since we moved here almost exactly a year ago. The level of vibrancy and energy in the area has really grown, and it means a lot for an organization like the Cleveland Foundation – which is committed to developing communities and creating places where people want to live and work – to come into this neighborhood.”

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"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege." -- Tommy Douglas, Scottish-born Canadian Baptist minister and the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan

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I can't wait to hear the old, white, Chardon inhabiting Dunham board members get in a tizzy over this. The area where the CF wants to locate is a desolate lot right now, not a park as they previously stated it was. If anything this'll bring more money to Dunham Tavern, and protect that land from development (CF obviously respects the historical nature of the DTM site).

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"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege." -- Tommy Douglas, Scottish-born Canadian Baptist minister and the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan

"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege." -- Tommy Douglas, Scottish-born Canadian Baptist minister and the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan

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Cleveland Foundation plans to relocate from Playhouse Square to Midtown, despite legal tussle over site

Gries and Richard said they hoped to complete construction of the new headquarters within three years. But they said the timing of the move would be contingent on the resolution of a lawsuit filed in May in which former Dunham board member Christeen Tuttle and museum members Richard Parke and Ted Peterson are seeking to invalidate the sale of 1.2 acres to the foundation.

The suit alleges that the Dunham board’s approval of the sale is invalid due to conflicts of interest and responsibility among board members, that voting procedures were violated, and that the defendants breached fiduciary duties.

On Friday, the defendants filed an answer and a counterclaim in which they deny the allegations and seek an injunction against the effort to block the land sale, along with an expedited response from Judge Nancy Russo of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.

"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege." -- Tommy Douglas, Scottish-born Canadian Baptist minister and the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan

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In other Midtown news, the worst hotel in Cleveland has been purchased:

Old Cleveland hotel gets new owner

STAN BULLARD

June 24, 2019 03:10 PM

A New York City-based hotel investor is the new owner, through 3614 Euclid Holding LLC, of the 181-room University Hotel & Suites in MidTown Clevelandas a result of a long-lingering foreclosure proceeding.

The affiliate of the Crimson Rock Capital﻿ hotel investment company obtained the deed to the 1964-vintage hotel on Friday, June 14, according to Cuyahoga County land records.

Crimson secured the property through a receivership sale authorized by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas with a credit-bid for $3 million because it had acquired for an undisclosed amount the distressed mortgage on the property from a lender, Grand Pacific Holdings Corp. of Monterey, Calif. A credit-bid recognizes the investment that the lender already has made in the property with a mortgage.

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Cleveland Foundation plans to relocate from Playhouse Square to Midtown, despite legal tussle over site

Gries and Richard said they hoped to complete construction of the new headquarters within three years. But they said the timing of the move would be contingent on the resolution of a lawsuit filed in May in which former Dunham board member Christeen Tuttle and museum members Richard Parke and Ted Peterson are seeking to invalidate the sale of 1.2 acres to the foundation.

The suit alleges that the Dunham board’s approval of the sale is invalid due to conflicts of interest and responsibility among board members, that voting procedures were violated, and that the defendants breached fiduciary duties.

On Friday, the defendants filed an answer and a counterclaim in which they deny the allegations and seek an injunction against the effort to block the land sale, along with an expedited response from Judge Nancy Russo of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.

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I know I'm going down the rabbit hole, but what led you to write this?

Rebuilding Midtown is a marathon, not a sprint. This is a catalyst/cornerstone project which will help repair the connective fabric of Midtown, east and west along, Euclid and Chester and North to the Hough Neighborhood.

I've said before Clevelander's, at times, are our own worst self Saboteurs!

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I know I'm going down the rabbit hole, but what led you to write this?

Rebuilding Midtown is a marathon, not a sprint. This is a catalyst/cornerstone project which will help repair the connective fabric of Midtown, east and west along, Euclid and Chester and North to the Hough Neighborhood.

I've said before Clevelander's, at times, are our own worst self Saboteurs!

The Cleveland foundation should be downtown. There is no reason to use parkland for a suburban style office building on that site.

"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege." -- Tommy Douglas, Scottish-born Canadian Baptist minister and the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan

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Not a fan of the land use, rather had seen apartment or something more inclusive to everyone here but development is development. Progress is progress I guess, but I don't like the direction Midtown has headed so far, it feels like they don't have a cohesive vision of the neighborhood and are taking on whoever offers to move there, that's all I have to say on that.

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Not a fan of the land use, rather had seen apartment or something more inclusive to everyone here but development is development. Progress is progress I guess, but I don't like the direction Midtown has headed so far, it feels like they don't have a cohesive vision of the neighborhood and are taking on whoever offers to move there, that's all I have to say on that.

They have a cohesive vision, I just think you’re not a fan of it. That suburban style office development is not an accident. That’s a deliberate part of the plan of the neighborhood. I’m personally ok with that, because I don’t think every neighborhood has to look the same and I think we should have everything other places have so if companies want that kind of development, they can have it in the city. I don’t have a problem with this

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Not a fan of the land use, rather had seen apartment or something more inclusive to everyone here but development is development. Progress is progress I guess, but I don't like the direction Midtown has headed so far, it feels like they don't have a cohesive vision of the neighborhood and are taking on whoever offers to move there, that's all I have to say on that.

Maybe just my optimism, but it seems like they have a very cohesive vision. Which is to embed an anchor institution that defies the polarization between downtown/UC success and neighborhood dereliction into the only east-side neighborhood that blends the polarization between downtown/UC/neighborhoods. Unite the two through CF in Midtown and spur neighborhood development north in Hough. It seems incredibly brilliant and bold to me. Just have two worries:

1. CF doesn’t have an inviting office at the Hanna, nor do they really invite the community into their neck of the woods... they come to the community, not vice versa. Hopefully they can also shed that mentality as they build out a space that has room to house the community.

2. Innovation Center? We already have the global health innovation center with no HIMSS. Now we have 300,000+ incubator taking form 60 blocks west... do we really need another innovation center?

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Not a fan of the land use, rather had seen apartment or something more inclusive to everyone here but development is development. Progress is progress I guess, but I don't like the direction Midtown has headed so far, it feels like they don't have a cohesive vision of the neighborhood and are taking on whoever offers to move there, that's all I have to say on that.

Chicken and the egg, you need business and amenities to spark apartments and residents. There's still plenty of vacant and underutilized land in the Midtown/Euclid corridor for your plan to take shape.

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If everything goes as planned along both sides of East 55th between Euclid and Carnegie, there will be many housing units in Midtown. Plus the RTA has 2.3 acres of land (8 parcels) for sale on the south side of Euclid just east of the tracks.

"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege." -- Tommy Douglas, Scottish-born Canadian Baptist minister and the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan

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amazing how people get agitated over the use of an empty plot of land, when there are more than enough empty plots to go around.... they just tore down the gyro george building across from the midtown one development.... there's another empty plot of land...

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amazing how people get agitated over the use of an empty plot of land, when there are more than enough empty plots to go around.... they just tore down the gyro george building across from the midtown one development.... there's another empty plot of land...

Absolutely. BTW, Gyro George property was bought by the port authority in April. I don't know if that signifies anything because no nearby parcels were also bought by the port authority (or anyone else recently). The adjacent parcel is a city land reutilization property. However, in February, the port authority amended a longstanding property access and assessment agreement with Lassi Enterprises, LLC, the land assembly and project partnership equity subsidiary of MidTown Cleveland Inc.

Edit: if the Dunham Tavern folks block this, Cleveland Foundation might consider flipping their plan -- pursuing the office building on the west side of 66th and the Center For Innovation as a later phase on the Dunham side of 66th. Everything on the west side of the street is either owned by the city, the port authority or Midtown Cleveland CDC (dba EUCLID 66 LLC). Midtown bought the remaining building (formerly the Joseph M. Stern Co.) on the west side of East 66th in March, with the port authority buying the land north of it to Chester the month before. The city owns everything south of the JMS building along the north side of Euclid. Just musing....

"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege." -- Tommy Douglas, Scottish-born Canadian Baptist minister and the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan